While those remaining in Bremen begin a short week of training on Wednesday, five Werder players are jetting off on international duty. The quintet have a number of varying challenges ahead of them over the coming days, including EURO play-offs and Nations League and Elite League matches. Here is an overview of all the action.
It is clear how important Milos Veljkovic is to the Serbia national team after he has been called up again by coach Dragan Stojkovic directly following his recovery from injury. The 29-year-old had been battling with a foot injury since the end of August and only returned to the starting line-up in the previous match against Kiel. The first of the two upcoming Nations League fixtures for the 33-time Serbia international will certainly be the more significant, as the player born in Basel takes on Switzerland (Fri., 15/11, 20:45 CET). Avoid defeat in that game, and Veljkovic & Co. will have the chance against Denmark to qualify for the competition’s quarter-finals (Mon., 18/11, 20:45 CET).
Romano Schmid and Austria have a good opportunity of sealing promotion to League A in the Nations League. Werder’s number 20 has been named in the starting XI for each of the previous six matches by head coach Ralf Rangnick and his assists helped the team to strengthen their grip on top spot in their group. Should everything go to plan, then the games against Kazakhstan in Almaty (Thu., 14/11, 16:00 CET) and against Slovenia at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna (Sun., 17/11, 18:00 CET) would see Austria book a place in the division higher for the competition’s next campaign.
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— Fudbalski savez Srbije | FA of Serbia (@FSSrbije) November 11, 2024
Isak Hansen-Aaroen has his sights set even higher. The midfielder will be fighting with the Norway national team for a ticket to the European U21 Championship, taking place in Slovakia in the summer of 2025. First up for the Norwegians is a trip to Tampere to face Finland on Friday (15/11, 17:45 CET), before the sides meet again in Stavanger for final and deciding clash on Tuesday (19/11, 18:30 CET). “These will be two hugely important games for me and the team. We are thinking more about what we can achieve than about the opponent,” said an excited Werder midfielder. Mio Backhaus and Keke Topp are both set for action with the Germany U20 national side, who will take on England in Chesterfield (Fri., 15/11, 20:00 CET), before a trip to face Türkiye in Istanbul (Tue., 19/11, 17:00 CET).
